Saint Benedict
The
Fifth Century brings us not one but two
future Saints.
It is 480 A.D. and a little
voice cries out, Here I am world! But no
sooner heard, than another tiny cry
fills the air. Not one, but two babies
will be born to the parents of the
future Saints Benedict and his twin
sister Scholastica. Now, Norcia is not
easy to get to, as we well know. We
often wonder why God chooses the most
remote places in the world for
apparitions by Mother Mary, by the
Archangel Michael, for Miracles of the
Eucharist and the birth of great Saints.
Could it be, because we are too busy to
hear or see God working in our midst? I
don't know. What do you think?
Born of the nobility, Saint Benedict
would have every advantage enabling him
to receive the best education and
preparation for life. It is believed
that when he was no more than in his
teens, his parents sent Saint Benedict
and his nurse[1]
to Rome, to pursue a higher education,
more than likely majoring in law. As
they had been blessed to be born of the
nobility, it was the custom of people of
their station to send their sons to
acquire an education preparing them for
a career as public magistrates or
judges, in this way fulfilling their
God-given obligations to serve.
Now Rome of his day had become nothing
but a barbaric cesspool, filled with
pagan tribes, who had invaded her
shores, spreading heresy and immoral
behavior the likes of which was leading
to a widespread depraved and decadent
culture infecting all, but especially
the intelligentsia, as usual the
students.
As goes the world, sadly, often follows
the Church. Poor Mother Church was
reeling from the attacks within and
without - with schisms threatening to
tear down all that the Early Church
Fathers had built. Immoral and amoral
behavior[2]
soon became the accepted norm of the day
with Christians accepting and adopting
the culture of the hordes of heathens
who had stormed their land. With
permissiveness, war and rampant
widespread plundering are sure to
follow. There was not a ruler or king
who was not either a pagan,[3]or
an atheist,[4]
or a heretic.[5]
Benedict moves on
Holiness begets holiness, as
well as sin begets sin. As sheep
willingly follow a goat[1]
to slaughter, so it was with this
scourge which covered society. It was
such a deadly epidemic no one was exempt
from its poisonous infection. The
wholesale evil and totally immoral
behavior of the parents soon cascaded
down to the youth, who willing followed
and consequently mimicked their example.
By the grace of God, the young Benedict
was repulsed by all the evil and
scandalous behavior he could see
permeating not only Rome, but the
schools. Not prideful, and totally
devoid of the brash opinion of youth,
and society as well, that they can
handle anything, Benedict made the
decision to leave Rome. The only one he
told was his nurse, who accompanied him.
The path was clear for him. Having
completed all that higher education of
his day could offer, he left behind his
books; and rejecting all the trappings
of the world, his parents' wealth and
comforts of home and estate, departed
for a life centered in God. It is fairly
certain Benedict left Rome at age
twenty, as he was mature enough to
discern the decadency and immorality of
his friends and class mates.
[1] A goat which leads sheep to
slaughter is called a Judas goat.
[1] to care for his every need, most
likely as his housekeeper
[2] Whereas in immoral behavior the
sinner is aware of the difference of
right and wrong and commits the sin
anyway, in amoral behavior the sinner is
unable to distinguish between right and
wrong. He would be someone totally
without principals.
[3] Paganism is a broad term which
includes all religious beliefs,
practices and systems with the exception
of Christianity, Judaism, and
Mohammedanism. It is thus applied to
those who do not recognize a Supreme
Being, the Monotheistic or Trinitarian
God-oriented religions that have
developed from the revelations of God
and are carried through the fulfillment
of the mission given by Christ to His
Church. - The Catholic Encyclopedia by
Broderick
[4] One who believes that God does
not exist. Atheism can be a denial of
God or the substitution of a lesser
object in place of God. Moral Atheism
holds that human acts have no morality
with reference to the Divine Lawgiver;
this is sometimes called particle
atheism. - The Catholic Encyclopedia by
Broderick
[5] A baptized and professed person
who denies or doubts a truth revealed by
God or proposed for belief by the
Catholic Church is a heretic. - ibid
